This invention relates to modes of transportation, and is especially directed to manned and unmanned aerospace (i.e., air and/or space) vehicles. The invention is specifically directed to a drive system that can be employed in such vehicles.
A technique for suspending a communications platform (i.e., a communications mirror) at a low altitude (100 to 200 kilometers) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,190 to Csonka. There, the mirror is kept aloft above the atmosphere by pressure of electromagnetic radiation that is beamed up at it from a ground antenna. A similar technique for suspending a platform at a high altitude in the atmosphere is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,704,732 to Csonka. In that arrangement, the platform is again kept aloft by radiation from a ground station. However, in this case, the energy received by the platform is transferred to air molecules that impinge on it, and these momentum transferred to these molecules (which move downwards) provide lifting force to the platform. The temperature density of the platform is controlled, so that the net direction of force is in the desired direction. The explanation for the principles that these two patents rely on, and the supporting engineering mathematics, are contained in these two patents, and their disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.
On the other hand, no one has proposed a system for manned or unmanned aerospace flight that relies on radiation pressure, nor has anyone suggested using an on-board electromagnetic source for propulsion, either by radiation pressure or by molecular momentum transfer. Currently, chemical-based rocket drives are employed for manned vehicles, unmanned space vehicles, and orbiting craft. There is a need for a clean and economical way to travel both in air and in space, which does not rely on chemically generated thrust.